Naruto, 100 Years Later
by Chibi Chan the Fluffy Bunny
Summary: Rating may rise later on. This is going to be in story arcs prolly. The first arc: The Nine-tails demon has been sealed into a statue. What happens when someone tries to steal it?
1. Genins

A/N: Hey there! It's time for this fiction to start. It's set 100 years after the Naruto timeline, so none of the characters will be in this (they will be mentioned, and I might find a way to bring them in somehow). Anyways, on with the story.  
  
Episode 1: Genins  
  
BRRRRING! BRRRRRRING! The sound of an alarm clock rang throughout the Uchiha household. It was 7:00 AM, and the alarm clock was letting everyone in the Uchiha children's room know.  
  
"It's 7:00, and it's time to GET UP!" the clock yelled, immediately going back to BRRRRINGing.  
  
You didn't hear me wrong. It yelled. It was a birthday present to Uchiha Renku, as he had wanted it soooo much. After a couple of uses though, he had learned to hate it just like his two sisters.  
  
"SHUT UP!" Shikari yelled, summoning up all of her strength and slamming her dainty hand down on the clock. It had stopped, but she was afraid she had finally done it in. Month after month of slamming her hand down on it hadn't helped either. Her hands were strong for being so small.  
  
Shikari's hair had fallen over her face, and she was looking a bit groggy. Her two siblings, Anko and Renku, climbed out of the triple bunk bed, Renku half-falling half-jumping from the top, and Anko hopping down from the middle. Both of them walked out of the room and towards their own bathrooms. Shikari climbed out of her bed slowly and made her way into her own bathroom.  
  
Shikari had been in the middle of brushing her teeth when realization finally dawned on her. The clock said it was seven, it took thirty minutes to get to the academy, and they were announcing the Genin teams at 7:15.  
  
Shikari's screams could be heard throughout all of Konoha.

* * *

"My name is Uzumaki Riku," a girl with long black hair twirled in front of her mirror and put one hand on her hip, the other gripping a kunai, "And I'm your worst nightmare."  
  
Riku smiled at her mirror, shifting her chin-length bangs out of her face. She stood in her position, checking herself out. She had a sleeveless blue shirt on, and baggy black pants. It was her choice of wear pretty much every day, and even though she was to become a Genin today, she didn't bother getting dressed up.  
  
"That's a good one," She mentally patted herself on the back for her newly created taunt. "I should use it sometime."  
  
"RIKU!"  
  
Riku cringed at her mother's voice. Her mother had been pestering her to get ready since 6:30 that morning. It was now 7:00.  
  
"Coming mother!" Riku yelled back throughout the house, running out of her room and down the stairs.  
  
"Don't be late!" Her mother said sternly, standing beside the door that lead to the front porch. She was holding a piece of toast.  
  
"I won't!" Riku said, running past her and snatching the toast from her mother's hands. She'd eat it on the way.  
  
In fifteen minutes, she was going to become a Genin.

* * *

"What's that smell?" Shikari asked, glaring at Renku. She was already pissed as it was, being late, and if Renku had forgotten to put deodorant on, well...she didn't even want to think about it.  
  
Shikari had quickly gotten dressed after discovering they were going to be late, and so did her siblings. She was in her traditional dark blue tanktop and drawstring pants, while Renku was in a sleevless black shirt with sweatpants on. Anko was in some baggy tan pants with a black tanktop, and had her Uchiha fan-decorated gloves on. Anko's forehead protector was on her forehead, while Renku's was around his upper arm and Shikari's was around her thigh.  
  
"Not me..." Renku replied, sniffing his armpits. "Seriously, it's not me!" Shikari still wasn't convinced.  
  
"Show yourself, Seiyu!" Anko yelled.  
  
A boy jumped from a tree behind them, landing gracefully on the ground. He had ginger hair and grey eyes, and was looking a little embarrassed. He had a blue T-shirt on and black trousers, and he was also quite hairy. The Uchiha triplets turned around, all covering their noses, and just in time to see the boy's hairy hand go behind his head to scratch embarrassedly.  
  
"Here," Renku said, digging into his pocket and throwing some deodorant at him, "Use this, please."  
  
"Why do you continue to stalk me, Seiya?" Anko yelled, hand on her hip. Her ponytail wiggled a bit as she shook her head.  
  
"Because," Seiya started, putting deodorant on, "I will follow you to the ends of the earth!"  
  
Anko wasn't surprised, and neither were her siblings. She had always been the prettier of the sisters, but this hadn't spawned any jealousy at all. Shikari could've cared less. All guys did was get in the way of training. And Renku, well, all of his friends were in love with his sister.  
  
"Look," Shikari said, running her slender fingers through her hair. "We're late as it is, let's GO."  
  
The other two complied and they began to walk off quickly.  
  
"Wait for me!" Seiya yelled, running after him. The deodorant wasn't working too well.

* * *

CRASH!  
  
Hyuuga Shizumi stared intently with her white eyes at the plate she had just dropped. Her father and mother also stared at the plate. Shizumi's hands were shaking, how had she done that? The same thing had happened last night too.  
  
"Well?" her father asked. "Aren't you going to clean that up?"  
  
Her father had white eyes and long black hair. He was also quite muscular, but you couldn't tell in the robe her wore. Her mother, sitting across from her father, looked like her. Short black hair, and quite thing. Her green eyes bore into her, and even though they weren't white like her fathers, they still felt penetrating. Shizumi, like her mother, was thin and had short, spiky black hair. She was wearing a robe, like everyone else. Her eyes weren't totally white, but kind of a white with a green hue.  
  
Shizumi stood shaking for a moment, before bending down to pick it up. She was so nervous about the becoming a Genin. Although she already knew she had passed the test with one of the highest grades in class, her mother and father had told her she wasn't out of the boat yet.  
  
"You still have to take another test from your Jounin teacher, and only thing will you truly become a Genin."  
  
She sighed, putting the pieces of the plate into the trash can. She grabbed another plate and passed it to her father, then got one for her mother and herself. Hyuuga customs. She looked at the clock before passing out breakfast. It was 6:30 AM. There was plenty of time to eat and get to the academy.

* * *

Closing the door to her tiny apartment, Kazama Miharu made her way carefully down the steps and towards the academy. It was quite sunny out for so early in the morning, and this made Miharu quite angry, as it was in her eyes. She was having a hard time seeing, so she brought her hand up to shield her eyes, and saw a figure just as it ran into her.  
  
The figure was a girl, and like Miharu, fell flat on her butt. She was squealing "Sorry!" almost as if it were her fault. Miharu was also partially to blame.  
  
"Don't worry about it." Miharu said, getting up and offering the girl a hand.  
  
The girl took Miharu's hand and stood up. Then Miharu noticed, the girl was in her class. She was Omamori Shinku, a girl from her class. Miharu then noticed something at her foot. An open notebook, dropped by Shinku. She bent down to pick it up when she saw some writing.  
  
_ I don't know how to say this, but I love_-  
  
Miharu was cut off from her reading as Shinku snatched the notebook up. Then she began to walk away, but Miharu stopped her.  
  
"If you're going to the Academy, you're going the wrong way..."  
  
"Oh." Was what the crimson-haired girl replied, and turned around and began following her.  
  
Miharu began to finger her long braid, getting curious about that notebook. She knew she shouldn't be prying into people's business, but she had to know. Her blue eyes shifted to Shinku, but the red-head didn't notice. She was writing in that notebook. Miharu sighed, she'd just ask later.  
  
The rest of the walk to the Academy went without event.  
  
A/N: Well, how do you like it? The storyline probably won't come until later, so just hang in there. Gotta introduce the characters. 


	2. Introductions

Episode 2: Introductions  
  
"I'm am very surprised and happy to say that...Everyone in this class has passed." The 8th Hokage looked at all of the children in the class as he spoke.  
  
The man was old, and had no hair, but his head ornament hid that. He also spoke in a slow drabble, just saying that sentence had taken him a good ten or fifteen seconds. All of the Academy students knew they were in for a long speech.  
  
"This is one of the first times that this has happened in all of Konoha history." The old man continued. "You should all be very proud of yourselves. Blah blah blah."  
  
Oyumi Sae's head fell down onto her desk as she felt sleep slowly coming to her. The Hokage was so boring it wasn't even funny. She lifted her head up quickly, as she didn't want to sleep through the team choosing process.  
  
_"Speaking of teams..."_ She thought, looking around the room. _"Who do I want on mine?"  
_  
Her eyes came fell upon a certain blonde girl. Uzumaki Rei, blood relative of the sixth. Then her eyes went to the girl next to Rei, Uzumaki Riku. The two seemed to be having a staring contest.  
  
_ "Those two always compete..."_ Sae thought, flipping her red-gold hair back. _"I don't think I'd want them on my team. They don't seem like they'd be good to work with as a team."  
_  
Her eyes continued to scan the room, then stopped at the girl in front of her. Kazama Miharu.  
  
_ "Nah, that girl broods way too much. She might go psycho when she's angry or something."  
_  
_"Too weird..."_ She thought, her eyes shifting to Omamori Shinku. _"She's even quieter than me...and that's pretty quiet."  
_  
Then her eyes shifted to two guys in the front of the room. They were whispering amongst themselves, probably bored from the Hokage's seemingly endless speech also. The one on the right, Gan, was of the Inuzuka clan. His hair was brown and messy looking, and he wore a large jacket. He also always had a small black puppy with him named Kuro.  
  
The boy on the left was Yu Zukei. He was quite hard to overlook because of his hair, it being bright red and super spiky. He was wearing a red scarf with a dark blue shirt and sweatpants. On the back of the shirt was a bright orange star.  
  
_"Nope,"_ She thought. _"Those two are way too weird. Plus they hang out with those stuck up Uchihas."_  
  
Then she noticed the Uchihas weren't there. Usually they were among the first ones in the classroom. Not today though. That smelly kid wasn't there either.  
  
_"Wonder where they could be..."_ Sae wondered.  
  
As if on cue, Anko, Renku, and Shikari all walked in, along with Seiya. They didn't say anything, just walked to their seats. They were quite lucky though, as the Hokage was just finishing his speech.  
  
"And in saying this, I wish you all good luck in being Genins. Good day." Then as he was walking out, he noticed the four taking their seats.  
  
"Oh, you missed my speech." He said, as if they cared. They'd rather commit seppuku with a dull knife. "I guess I'll have to go through it again."  
  
Even their Chuunin teacher began banging his head on the desk.

* * *

"Team 4 will be...Anko, Shikari, and Renku Uchiha." The Chuunin teacher stated, pointing to the three as he said their names. "Your teacher will be here shortly."  
  
Seiya banged his fist on his desk. He wasn't on Anko's team, and that made him very frustrated. He looked around the room, noticing that many other guys were the same. Seemed like Anko had caught the affections of many. It didn't matter though, eventually she'd come around and notice that he was boyfriend material.  
  
"Team 5 is...Tenkawa Seiya, Inuzuka Gan, and Uzumaki Rei."  
  
Seiya's head perked up as he heard his name. Great, he was on the team with a loudmouth and dog boy. Did he do something wrong to deserve this?  
  
"Team 6 is...Omamori Shinku, Kazama Miharu, and Oyumi Sae."  
  
Zukei looked around furiously. He got to be with the brooding angry girl and the weirdo. He wasn't too thrilled that he wasn't with his friends either. They'd always dreamed of being on a team together, and being the best ninjas ever. So much for that.  
  
"Team 7 is...Uzumaki Riku, Hyuuga Shizumi, and Yu Zukei."  
  
_"Perfect, as long as I'm not on the same team as my cousin."_ Riku thought, leaning back in her seat. _"I want to keep all of my techniques secret so I can surprise her with them in our fight to be Hokage. That'll show her for stealing my dream."  
_  
The Chuunin instructor called out the rest of the teams, and their instructors slowly arrived. Everyone said their goodbyes and went to bond with their new teachers. The instructor smiled, wiping a tear from his eye. He had always hated this part. For seven years, he'd taught them all here. And now they were gone, off to become ninjas and someday surpass him. It was beautiful.

* * *

"My name is Uzumaki Rei. I am descended from Uzumaki Naruto, and destined to be Hokage! I like ramen, and I don't like my cousin Riku!"  
  
A girl with blond pigtails (think Naruto's sexy no jutsu) sat back down in the front desk at the academy. After arriving late, their jounin- sensei, Kabi, decided just to stay there to get acquainted with his students. He was dressed in black ninja garments, with a black cape, and he had what looked like a giant stick slung across his back.  
  
"Okay...And you?" Kabi asked, pointing to Gan.  
  
"My name is Inuzuka Gan." He said, pointing to himself. "I am going to be the best ninja there ever was, not that I'm already not, and I'm going to impress Anko! And I hate cats."  
  
"And I'm Tenkawa Seiya, master of taijutsu." Seiya said, hopping out of his seat. "Anko's gonna be mine, and it's going to be me who's the best ninja in the world. Sorry to burst your bubble Gan."  
  
Gan just stared at Seiya, and his puppy growled. You could almost see the lighting going from both of their eyes. Kabi had to do something before a fist fight broke out.  
  
"My name is Kabi. My last name is none of your business. I like popcorn, and I hate boastful people." Seiya and Gan stiffened at that comment. "I've already achieved my goal in life, which was to become a jounin and teach. You three are actually my first team."  
  
And then there was silence. Rei just stared at her desk, and noticed that they needed cleaning. Gan and Seiya were back to glaring at each other, and Kabi just stood there.  
  
"Nothing else to say?" he asked. "Alright then, I'll meet you three tomorrow at ten behind the academy on the field. There we will do some fun things."  
  
None of the three children liked the way he said "fun".  
  
"Oh, and by the way," Kabi said, halfway out of the classroom. "One of you smells really bad."  
  
Seiya's eyes just darted around the room at this comment.

* * *

"So you wanna impress your parents?" A woman with long blue hair and a blue tanktop asked, pointing to Shizumi. She also wore black shorts that only went down to her mid thighs.  
  
"You want to be Hokage and beat up your cousin," the woman asked, pointing to Riku, "And you want to be stronger so you can recover a family heirloom from your father? Interesting bunch.  
  
"I'm Tenkichi Marina, and I like to get things over with, such as this. Anyways, maybe I'll tell you my likes and stuff like that later, like tomorrow. Meet me here, eight o'clock sharp. K?"  
  
They were standing in a clearing in the forest, and it was surrounded by trees. There was a small river running through it, and the grass was quite high. It was an ideal hiding spot.  
  
"Anyways, catch you guys later!"  
  
She was gone so fast, that no one knew what to say. Was she hyperactive, or maybe she just drank to much caffeine. Either way, she was weird.

* * *

Standing at the foot of the Hokage mountain, this is where Team 6 met. Their Jounin-sensei was weird looking. He was dark-skinned, and had a huge afro. He also wore shades and had a purple vest and purple bellbottoms on. That was topped off with shoes that must've made him about six inches taller. He was quite a weirdo.  
  
"My name is not important, but you can call me Fever-Sensei. I like to dance, and I don't like people who don't like to express themselves. How about you three?"  
  
No one spoke.  
  
"Lemme guess, you three don't like to express yourselves huh?" The odd man asked, tapping his foot. "Ah, fate is cruel isn't it? I've got something for you then, tomorrow. Just meet here at dawn, ok?"  
  
The three nodded, and everyone parted. Fever-sensei just smiled to himself as he thought about the evil plan he had.

* * *

The Uchiha triplets were on the roof of the academy, and were still in awe at their instructor. He was only a little taller than them Shikari, who was tallest, and he didn't look a day over sixteen. He wore a black T- shirt, with black sweatpants. He also had a black headband on. His hair, on the other hand, was white and went down to his mid-back.  
  
"So, who wants to introduce themselves first?" Their sensei asked, looking around. Shikari was first to speak.  
  
"I'm Uchiha Shikari," she said, blushing a bit. "I like yo-"She stopped mid-sentence. "Never mind"  
  
Anko was disgusted. Her sister was smitten with their teacher. He had to at least be in his late twenties! He was so old!  
  
"I'm Uchiha Anko," Anko stated, "And this is my brother Renku. I hate most of the guys at our school because they chase after me, and I like to train. My goals are none of your business."  
  
"Don't mind her coldness." Renku piped in. "Anyways, I like to train also, and I also like to hang out with my friends. You?"  
  
"I'm Shizari Ken. I like to sleep, and I hate bright colors. Just two years ago, at the age of fourteen, I became a Jounin. I hope you guys can top that. As my first team, I hope you will."  
  
Shikari looked down. He was only sixteen, and she was almost thirteen. She blushed, then she felt Anko's gaze on her. She was going to get yelled at by Anko when they got home. She didn't get it though, Anko was always so stiff. Sure, she was stiff too, but sometimes she'd lighten up. Anko never did.  
  
"Uh, guys, we can go now." Renku said, scared that he was interrupting one of their "glare off"s. He wasn't. "He said to meet here at noon tomorrow."  
  
The three of them jumped off the building and began their walk home. Today had been just like any other day in Konoha, just add in a new friend.  
  
A/N: Okay, done! Next chapter, fun stuff happens! 


	3. Final Test

A/N: Hey there! I've just thought of something...this fic, with the three arcs I've got planned, will probably run a lil' long. But it's all in good fun. Anyways, this is where the action starts. Bold is a flashback. 3...2...1...GO!  
  
Episode 3: Final Test  
  
** "How could you be in love with our teacher!?" Anko shrieked. She was yelling at Shikari at the moment, angry that she was smitten with their teacher.  
  
"Well at least I actually show human emotions, you robot!" Shikari retorted.  
  
The Uchiha parents were in the living area, enjoying a pleasant conversation with each other over the yelling. They were used to it by now. Both girls were control freaks, so this unfortunately caused problems.  
  
"I wish you never became a Genin!"  
  
"I wish you were never born!"  
  
Stomping in the kitchen could be heard from the living room, which was right down the hallway. Then there was a slam of the front door and footsteps going upstairs. It was just a normal night in the Uchiha household.  
  
But where was Renku in all this? He was sitting on the roof; it's what he'd always done when his two sisters fought. He liked to relax, and with so much noise, that was hard. So on the roof, looking up at the tranquil night sky, it was easy. They were so troublesome. Besides, they'd be fine by the morning anyway.  
**  
Renku was interrupted from his reverie by Ken snapping in his face. He still was not used to having such a young teacher.  
  
"Okay...Are you guys ready for a surprise?" Ken asked, getting only the triplets looking at each other as a response. "You guys aren't officially Genins yet!"  
  
Renku, Anko, and Shikari all stared at each other in shock as Ken's laughter rang throughout town. The triplets didn't think this was funny, however. Anko looked ready to fight him.  
  
"Whoa Whoa. I said "yet"!" Ken said, putting his hands up defensively. "To officially become Genins, I have to give you a test. And I've got just the thing."  
  
Ken reached into his pocket, fishing around for a bit. Anko pulled out a kunai, as if ready for anything. She looked back at her siblings commandingly, and those two pulled theirs out too. And then, Ken pulled it out. An egg.  
  
"You have to crack this egg, using any means possible. Are you ready?"  
  
"What!? Oh come on, this is a joke!" Renku commented.  
  
"No," Shikari stated. "There's a catch."  
  
"That's right." Ken said. "You have to crack it while it's in my hands."  
  
Ken looked at them, making sure they were ready. Anko was now fingering the hilt of the short sword slung over her back. Shikari and Renku just stood there. They had a plan of attack; this would be fun.  
  
"Go!"  
  
Ken saw Renku run quickly up to him and Shikari jumped back. Anko pulled out her sword and threw it in the air, making a few hand seals. While this was happening, Renku was upon him throwing punches. Ken had to block them all with one hand, as the hand with the egg was behind his back. He blocked them all with ease though, but then Renku jumped into the air and threw his foot down into a stomp aimed at his face. Ken blocked this, and Renku bounced off, and while coming down spun into a round house. Ken caught Renku's foot this time, and threw him off to the side.  
  
"Chiken (One thousand swords) no Jutsu!" Anko yelled, throwing her sword at Ken.  
  
Ken braced himself, ready to jump to the side. Then he saw something. The sword was not just a sword anymore, but swords. There were ten, twenty, now thirty swords coming after him. He smiled, and jumped over the sword at the front, catching it by the handle, and did a front flip, throwing it back at Anko. He had easily seen through the Genjutsu, and the egg was still behind his back. Anko jumped out of the way of her sword, and the sword crashed handle first into the ground. Anko looked back to Shikari and noticed her sister had finished her jutsu.  
  
"Katon! Goukakyu no Jutsu!"  
  
Ken was surprised by this technique. No way someone who wasn't even a Genin could use it. No way. Then, as the flames enveloped him, he realized that she actually did it.  
  
Shikari looked worried. Did she overdo it? Was Ken dead? She brought her fingernails up to her mouth and began to bite. What would she do if she accidentally killed her teacher? The one she was in love with, no less? Then she saw a smoldering log, and felt a presence behind her.  
  
"Pay attention."  
  
Shikari had no time to turn around as she felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck.

* * *

Earlier...  
  
"Okay!" Fever-Sensei exclaimed, running a comb through his fro. Team 6 was back at the foot of the Hokage Mountain, and it was dawn.  
  
"I'm sending you all back to the academy unless you tell me about yourselves. You each have 15 seconds. Ready, go."  
  
Shinku just stared at the weird Jounin's finger, pointing in her face. She was up first, and if she didn't say something quick, she was back to the academy. Wait, could he do that? Well, she was running out of time, so she quickly said something.  
  
"Umm...I'm Shinku, and I'm of the Omamori clan, and...I like to write...And I don't talk much. And-"  
  
"Times up!" Fever-Sensei said. "That was good. Your turn."  
  
"I'm Kazama Miharu, I hate you, and I live alone. Next." Miharu said nonchalantly. Fever-Sensei could tell he would have to work his charm with this team.  
  
"I guess I'm up then." Sae said. "I'm Sae, I live with my mom, and I think you're insane."  
  
"That's it?" Fever asked, adjusting his shades.  
  
"How do you see in those?" Sae asked, referring to his shades. "It's dawn, it's barely light out."  
  
Fever looked around.  
  
"So it is." He said, not surprised. "Anyways, I want you three to climb up the mountain before the sun rises. Do it or else you go back to the academy."  
  
"What!?" Miharu snapped, reaching into her kunai holster. She knew she couldn't kill him, but she was ready to try.  
  
"Well, you see," Fever started, combing his fro again. "Passing that test at the academy only QUALIFIED you to be Genins. You have to pass this to become one."  
  
Sae only laughed. If she couldn't do this, then she definitely couldn't protect herself or her mother. She grabbed onto one of the jagged edges sticking out of the mountain and began climbing.  
  
Shinku just stared upward, at the Hokages. Quite frankly, she was scared. She wanted to become a ninja, but she was so timid. She closed her eyes tightly and ran forward, grabbing onto a rock sticking out. She was ready.  
  
Miharu looked angry. She had no time for climbing mountains under the instruction from an insane man. She had to find him. She needed answers. She focused her chakra into her feet, and began to run up. She wouldn't be able to do this for long, but at least she'd have a head start.

* * *

"Being on a team with two girls might not be so bad." Zukei thought while smiling, his red hair swaying in the wind.  
  
It was eight o'clock, and the three students were there in the meadow. Marina wasn't there, so Zukei decided to start some small talk.  
  
"So, how are you two ladies doing?" He asked sitting between them at the bank of the stream. He put his arms around their shoulders.  
  
At the same time, they gently took his arms and threw him off their shoulders. He sighed and looked at the two. Shizumi was shaking a bit, and Riku was looking anxious. Then his eyes went down to Riku's chest, and they stayed there a while.  
  
"What are you looking at?" Riku asked, her eyes narrowed. She looked like she was about to slap him, hard.  
  
Then, out of the corner of his eye, Zukei saw something. Something sharp, pointy and black. A kunai!  
  
"AHHHHH!" Zukei screamed, leaping up and diving into the stream. The kunai whizzed by.  
  
"What the!?" Riku exclaimed, standing up. Shizumi stood up too, but had to duck as a shuriken flew over her.  
  
"We're under attack!" Shizumi yelled. "Byakugan!"  
  
Shizumi's eyes grew wide, and the veins on her temples popped out. She began dodging multiple kunai and shurikens, and saw Riku doing the same.  
  
"Riku, we have to get out of here!" Shizumi yelled as a kunai zipped past her face. "Get Zukei!"  
  
Zukei was underwater.  
  
"Screw that pervert, let's just leave!"  
  
Shizumi didn't feel right doing this, but if they stayed any longer, the two would get seriously injured. They began to run towards the forest, but when they got to the edge of the meadow, a giant wall popped out of the ground. Riku turned around to go the other way, but stopped.  
  
"It's rising up all around the meadow! We're trapped!"  
  
"At least the kunai and shurikens stopped coming." Shizumi thought, wiping her brow. Then the walls opened up.  
  
Shizumi and Riku ran as hard as they could, back to the stream. Shurikens and kunai were coming from everywhere, but the two girls managed to dodge them each time. When they got there, they noticed the water was bubbling and Zukei was dodging all of the weapons.  
  
"I had to get out." Zukei yelled, dodging another shuriken. There was so much noise, what with shurikens and kunai flying everywhere, and hitting the other side of the wall. "The water started boiling."  
  
So there the three were, trying their best to dodge everything, when something came to Shizumi's mind. The final test. This would determine if they were Genins or not. Shizumi stopped; their teacher wouldn't harm them would she?  
  
"This is all just a test to see if we're Genin quality!"  
  
Zukei and Riku kept dodging. They didn't know what was wrong with this Hyuuga girl, but halting movement at a time like this was just stupid.  
  
"Look, these things can't hurt us!" Shizumi said, and then the kunai and shuriken stopped coming at her. "This is genjutsu!"  
  
Zukei and Riku then stopped. What she was saying was making sense, but they had already become Genins. Right?  
  
"Kai!"  
  
"Kai!"  
  
"Kai!"  
  
The three looked around, noticing that there was no more wall and no kunai or shuriken. They had figured out the trick.  
  
"Haha! That was fun, wasn't it?" Marina yelled, bursting out of the ground. "I congratulate you all, but you weren't supposed to know it was a test."  
  
Shizumi knew she was referring to her. She guessed she had cheated, sort of. But it had all worked out for the best.  
  
"Therefore," Marina said, a hint of evil in her voice. "You all fail. You're going back to the academy."  
  
"WHAT!?" came out of the three students' mouths. Zukei fainted, Shizumi was shaking, and Riku looked like she was about to cry.  
  
"Just kidding."  
  
Riku and Shizumi sighed, but Zukei was still on the ground. Marina ushered them to come on, and so the three women started off toward the forest.  
  
"Come on, Zukei." Riku sighed, running up to the red-headed boy. "We passed."  
  
"Only the kiss of a beautiful maiden can wake me from my slumber!" Zukei exclaimed, grabbing Riku and pulling her down to him, puckering his lips.  
  
"Pervert!" She yelled, slapping him. Then she was gone.  
  
Zukei only snapped his fingers.

* * *

"YAAAAAH!" Seiya yelled, slamming his fist into the thin wooden board. He only succeeded in hurting himself.  
  
Team 5 had met on the field where, in the academy, they had learned to throw kunai and shuriken, among other things. Kabi had told them all about the final Genin exam, and had told them to break the board, stepping to the side and revealing a thing wooden board. It was proving harder than they had each expected. And Seiya was starting to get sweaty, as if he didn't smell bad enough.  
  
Gan fell back, and so did Kuro, reverting back to his dog form. The two were tired out from using so much chakra on the beast-human transformation. It didn't help at all.  
  
"There's no way to break this board!" Rei stomped her foot on the ground, her pigtails bouncing. "I quit."  
  
Rei took a seat in the grass in between Seiya and Gan. Seiya wasn't smelling very good either. Then, he lifted his arms, as if pointing at something. She almost fainted.  
  
"Look!" Seiya yelled, pointing in the distance. There was a small board.  
  
"He said, 'Break the board', remember? Maybe he wasn't talking about the one behind him!"  
  
Rei plugged her nose, got up, and moved to lay on the unbreakable board.  
  
"You stink Seiya."  
  
"You'll have to get used to it." Seiya sighed. No girls liked him.  
  
Seiya then got up and walked off toward the other board. This was the only way; if it didn't work, then it was back to the academy for them. When he got there, he picked the board up, and brought it back to the other two.  
  
"Here." He said, holding it out to Gan. "Break it."  
  
"It's not going to work." Rei sang.  
  
But she was wrong. Gan got up, throwing a weak punch, and ended up falling end to it because he was too tired. The board easily broke, and the three heard clapping.  
  
"It's about time you got it. You exhausted all that chakra, yet it was so simple."  
  
Standing in front of them was Kabi, grinning. He snapped, and the unbreakable board disappeared. Rei fell to the ground softly, but didn't sit up. She didn't even say ouch. They had really exhausted all of their chakra.  
  
"Well you all pass..." Kabi mumbled, but they still didn't seem to care. "Whatever, you three still have to make it home. Oh yea, meet me at the Hokage's tomorrow at 10."  
  
Then in a puff of smoke, he was gone. And now they had to get home.

* * *

"So, you three made it up the mountain, finally." Fever laughed. The sun had already risen before they got up there.  
  
Shinku pounded the mountain top, a tear falling to the ground. They had failed. All of them. And now, Shinku would have to go back.  
  
_"I'll just have to find him myself."_ Miharu thought, standing up. She didn't need to be a Genin.  
  
_"I'll never be able to protect her..."_ Sae thought.  
  
"NO!" She yelled, staring up at the skies, raising her fists.  
  
"Uh...There's no reason to be all dramatic, I was just kidding." Fever nervously laughed, bringing up his arms defensively.  
  
"But, we didn't make it up fast enough!" Sae said, her eyes swelling with tears.  
  
"Oh, about that." He laughed some more. "I just wanted you to make it up faster."  
  
Miharu pulled out her kunai; now she was definitely going to try to kill him. He was dead, so dead.  
  
"Well I guess you guys don't think that was funny like me." Fever was still laughing nervously. "Uh...missions start tomorrow, meet me at the Hokage's place at 10:30."  
  
And then he was gone, leaving the three girls to get off the mountain. Luckily, there were stairs.

* * *

Shikari stood up, holding the back of her neck. Anko and Renku came back and they were back in their formation, with Shikari in the back, Anko in front, and Renku beside Anko. Ken was back in his original starting position, with the egg still in his left hand, which was behind his back.  
  
"C'mon. If you can't get this from me in five minutes, you're all going back to the academy!"  
  
Anko's eyes widened. He had never given them a time limit! If she didn't do something soon, she'd be back at the academy.  
  
"Once more, Uchiha formation!" She yelled.  
  
Renku ran around Ken again, and Anko ran forward, picking up her sword in the process. Shikari was right behind her, doing seals.  
  
Ken turned around, throwing the egg in the air, and began to deflect all of Renku's attacks. Then, WHAM! He hit Renku squarely in the chest with his palm, and the black haired boy went flying back, to the edge of the building. Then he turned around, confronting Shikari.  
  
He pulled out a kunai, blocking the girls downward slash, then pushed. The girl's hand flew back, as she was outmatched in strength, then he kicked her in the stomach. She went flying towards Shikari, but Shikari jumped.  
  
"Katon! Hi Nageru no Jutsu (Fire Throwing Skill)!" Shikari yelled, putting her hands into the seal of the tiger. She put her hands forth and threw a fire ball at Ken.  
  
Ken looked up and saw the egg descending. Then he looked at the fire. Oh well. He jumped back, dodging the fire, and saw the egg fall on the ground into the flames. Shikari landed gracefully in front of the flames.  
  
"You pass." Ken sighed, he knew they could do it. "Good job Shikari."  
  
Renku jumped off the building immediately, running down the street yelling. Anko only sighed and slapped her forehead, embarrassed about her brother. Shikari was blushing from the compliment.  
  
"Well, that's a wrap." Ken said, clapping. "Tomorrow, meet at the Hokage's. 11 o'clock." Then he was gone.  
  
The Uchiha's were now Genins. 


	4. First Missions

A/N: Hello! I'm back! I'm so glad that people like this story, but still. I need more reviews! Tell your friends, tell your family! I can't work without feedback. Anyways, on with the story.  
  
Episode 4: First Missions  
  
The Hokage's office was and unfamiliar to Zukei, but he still felt right at home in the place. He felt more safe here than he did at home in his own bed. There were drawers on each side of the room, on the left side, drawers with the letters A-M on them lined the walls, on the other side, N- Z. The old man was very organized.  
  
There wasn't only work stuff in this office though, all over the walls, there were paintings of great ninjas. All of the past Hokage's were there, from the first all the way to the seventh, then there was Hatake Kakashi, Jiraiya, Itachi, Orochimaru. There were some not from Konoha as well, some that Zukei didn't know from stories. Up on the ceiling was a large mural, of that great battle over 100 years ago, the battle with the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. The mural depicted the fox blowing fire everywhere, with leaf shinobi all around him, and the Fourth Hokage in front of him performing hand seals. Zukei had heard the story of the battle a lot, but he'd never seen any paintings or anything. The epic feel to it made it that much better.  
  
The Hokage himself was also there, sitting at a large desk near the front wall. The desk had a bunch of papers stacked neatly on it, and he seemed to be looking through a few. A reading light wasn't needed, for there was a huge window behind him, the curtains drawn, and there was light streaming in. Zukei looked to his teammates; they seemed to be in awe from the room as well.  
  
"So your mission is..." The Hokage was shifting through papers now, trying to select an appropriate mission for them all. When he finally got to one, he smiled. "You have to watch over Mr. and Mrs. Henji's dogs while they go out and run errands."  
  
"WHAT!?" Zukei screamed. "What kind of a lame mission is that!?"  
  
"Do not speak to the Hokage that way." Shizume whispered to him.  
  
"Well I'm sorry, but this is a lame mission." He replied.  
  
"We just became Genins, we are not going to start out with dangerous missions."  
  
"Why not?" Riku had now come into the conversation. The three were huddled in a circle in front of the Hokage's desk, whispering for some reason, even though he could hear them. "This is so lame."  
  
Zukei smiled, happy that she'd agreed with him. "We're still ninja's though. Ninja's don't do these kind of things."  
  
"You mean to tell me you don't know about being a ninja?" Shizumi sighed. "I'm only going to explain this once. Ninja missions are divided into five different categories, E Rank, D Rank, C Rank, B Rank, and A Rank. E and D rank missions are for Genins, while C Rank and maybe low B Ranks are for Chuunins, and Jounins get A Ranks. Since we just became Genins, we get the lowest E Rank missions possible. Fighting other ninja's doesn't even start until upper D Rank, and even then, it's rare. If we do many missions and do them well, maybe we won't get "lame" ones anymore." Shizumi took in a bunch of air, hoping that the two understood what she just said.  
  
"What?" Zukei and Riku said in unison.  
  
Shizumi's eyes opened wide in surprise and anger. She was ready to kill them.  
  
"Just kidding." The two said, again in unison.  
  
"Are you three quite done yet?" Marina stood behind them, tapping her foot. The Hokage just sucked on his pipe, seemingly enjoying the three's antics. "C'mon, the Hokage has other appointments."

* * *

Seiya ran his fingers over his newly shaved arms. Then he did the same with his shaved legs. It was...weird. His father had said that body hair slowed him down a bit, and coming from a clan that was taijutsu dependent, that just wouldn't do. So he had to shave. But still, even if it did make him a better fighter...it was weird.  
  
Team 5 was sitting outside of the Hokage's office with their instructor. It was about time for their appointment, as they could hear whoever it was in there getting ready to leave. 'I wonder what kind of mission we'll get?' Gan wondered. He hoped it would be a good one so he could show off to Renku and Zukei.  
  
The sound of a door opening and closing brought the team's attention to the people walking out. It was Team 7. Zukei and Gan smiled at each other, giving each other a thumbs up. Riku and Rei weren't the same. They stared at the other intently; you could cut the tension with a butter knife. And someone must have, because the two started yelling at each other.  
  
"So what kind of mission did you get Riku? Babysitting some dogs or something?"  
  
Riku knew that Rei was just teasing, but was surprised that she'd gotten it right. "Of course not!" She yelled back. "We got a mission where we get to protect a princess! And it's a thousand times better than anything you'll ever get, blondie!"  
  
"Oh yea!?" Rei was ready to throw a punch now. "Well how about I give you a makeshift haircut? You need it!" Rei pulled out a kunai.  
  
Riku gasped, self-consciously running her fingers through her long black hair. "I'd like to see you try!" She snapped. Before the fight could go any further, Marina was tapping on Riku's shoulders.  
  
"We gotta go Riku." Was all she said before dragging Riku off. Rei just smirked. Gan and Zukei shrugged at each other, and then Zukei was gone. It was now time for Team 5's appointment.

* * *

"WHAT!? We have to go fetch some old man's medicine while Riku gets to protect a princess!?" Rei wasn't happy with their mission. Seiya and Gan weren't exactly elated either. 

After Riku's team had left, Kabi went into the Hokage's office himself, telling them he'd come back with a surprise mission. For what seemed like hours, there was a soft mumbling coming from the room. Then when he came out, Kabi told the Genins he'd tell them on the way. Right now, they were walking down the street.  
  
"Don't tell me you actually believed her?" Kabi smiled a bit, wondering if Rei herself was actually blonde and had just died her hair.  
  
"Of course not." Rei crossed her arms over her chest. She was lying, and it was easy to tell.  
  
There was a bit of yipping coming from Gan's large jacket, and Gan's lips curled into a smile. "Kuro says you're lying." Rei only glared.  
  
Finally, they arrived at the old man's house. They needed to pick up the list of medicine he needed. As Kabi brought his hand up to gently rap on the door, the old man was already opening.  
  
"Ahhh, you're here." The old man spoke very slowly, and looked like he would crumble into dust at any given moment. He was using a stick to prop himself up, and his legs were wobbly. "Here's the list of my medicines. Be back before sunset please."  
  
"Wait...donuts aren't a medicine." Kabi stated, holding his hand up to stop the old man from leaving.  
  
"Oh...well I thought while you were at it you could do my shopping."

* * *

"Sensei, what are you doing?" Miharu stood there, with her hands on her hips, staring at her teacher. Sae, was on the floor giggling, and Shinku was looking quite scared and embarrassed right about now.  
  
Fever-Sensei, on the other hand, just smiled. He had been dancing a bit, doing some sort of spinning move, and walking backwards, sliding his feet. He had looked very weird doing it.  
  
"Oh, that's called the moon walk. I should teach it to you some time." This caused Sae to laugh even more, and Shinku to hide her face in her notebook. Miharu, on the other hand, decided to speak up.  
  
"How about not."  
  
"Okay then, suit yourself." Fever-Sensei replied. "Anyways, since you guys were late, I already went in there and got a mission." Fever gestured to the Hokage's office. "We have to help this person catch a few birds...for his research. So, to the woods everyone!"

* * *

Shikari, Renku, and Anko were gasping for breath. Catching a ferret had proved much more difficult than any of them had thought. After finding a ferret with a red bow, the one described in the mission briefing, they had chased it from the outskirts of town into the woods. Then they had chased it out of a tree and into a clearing, then it had run all the way back into town, into the park. It was now hiding in a bush. What had Ken been doing this whole time? Watching, of course.  
  
"Here's the plan," Anko started, before Shikari interrupted her.  
  
"No. None of your plans have worked. It's time for my plan." Anko's eye twitched a bit. "Get into a triangle formation around the bush." They did. "Get ready...NOW!"  
  
Shikari threw a rock into the bush, scaring the ferret out. The three Uchiha's closed in around it as it tried to run, and now it was trapped. However, it ran at Renku, who thought it was going to jump on him, so he fell backwards. However, it had run under his legs, so he fell on top of it. There was a nasty crunching noise, and Renku wincing.  
  
Upon getting up, the triplets saw a mess of fur with bones sticking out of it, with a bow on it. Renku had fallen down hard.  
  
"You idiot!" Anko screeched. "You killed it! Now what-"  
  
"I have an idea!" Renku said.  
  
"I'm not going through with one of your crazy ideas right now! Not after you've ruined this!"  
  
"Just listen to what he has to say." Shikari said.  
  
Anko's eye twitched again, but she gave in with a sigh. Shikari had gotten soft.  
  
"Okay, we'll just buy a new ferret, and put this bow on it. Good as new."  
  
"That's actually a good idea." Ken was now standing with them around the dead ferret. "But it's not coming out of my pocket." Anko and Shikari nodded. It wasn't coming out of theirs' either.  
  
"I have the money." Renku said, picking the bow off of the dead ferret. "Let's just bury this thing and go get the ferret."  
  
Anko knew this wouldn't work. When they went to give the lost ferret back to the lady, she'd notice it wasn't hers and she'd tell the Hokage. Then they'd have to tell the real story and for failing a mission, they would be demoted and sent back to the academy. They were doomed.

* * *

"OH THANK YOU FOR GETTING BACK MY FERRET!" Ms. Megumi seemed to have not noticed that that ferret wasn't hers. Her loss.  
  
"Your welcome, Ms. Megumi." Ken said, trying his hardest not to burst out laughing. It really was funny.  
  
The Hokage wasn't amused. He knew all that had happened from looking at his crystal ball, and was ready to tell her about it. But then she dumped her whole purse out onto his desk. She had overpaid him by at least 25,000 yen, but she didn't seem to notice. The 8th just sucked his pipe a bit and began counting. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

* * *

"Good job you three!" Fever Sensei exclaimed, pointing at his students. The sun was beginning to set, and they were outside of the Hokage's office. Their mission was obviously a success.  
  
"I thought that when you screwed up that plan and killed that bird, the birdwatcher was going to give up and go. But no, you all persevered and succeeded. That's the kind of stuff you need in a dangerous mission."  
  
Miharu still was not convinced with this teacher. All he did was comb his hair, dance, and laugh. What kind of a ninja did that? And what was with his clothes? She sighed, perhaps she'd never know.  
  
Sae only giggled a bit. Although he was weird, he was still pretty cool to her. Perhaps he'd get all of them to open up one day. That Miharu girl was creepy, and that Shinku girl seemed like a psycho.  
  
And so Team 6 said their goodbyes, and parted ways. They'd see each other again tomorrow, first thing in the morning.

* * *

"So your mission was a success?" Gan asked Zukei.  
  
Zukei, Gan, and Renku were all sitting in the Ichiraku Ramen restaurant, where they usually hung out. They were all good friends since the academy, and being on different teams wasn't going to change that.  
  
"Of course! They said they were going to try to get our team to dogsit again."  
  
"I wish I could dogsit." Gan said wistfully. "But instead, we had to do some old man's shopping. It was a success of course." Gan stared at Renku, who was silent. "Unlike yours, Renku."  
  
The three burst out laughing. "It was still a success though." Renku said over their laughter. "The woman didn't notice."  
  
"Still," Gan said between laughs, "You can't successfully complete every mission like that."  
  
A/N: There we go! Episode 4 is done. Please Read and Review, it's the only thing that keeps me writing! Also, I revised the story, so now it's a lot less confusing! I've decided to have a contest! Here goes:

I got the idea for Fever-Sensei from a certain game with a break-dancing, afro-toting samurai. Tell me the name of the game in a review, and I'll write a fic for you with any pairing(s) you want, any plot you want, anything you want. Oh, and I don't do yaoi/yuri. Sorry.


	5. Uu, Ra, Gi, and Ru! Mission Start!

A/N: Another chapter, and so soon too! You guys are lucky I'm in a good mood! =D Anyways, Be on the lookout for another chapter Wednesday, and maybe Thursday. Oh yes, and about the contest: Bebeblu009 won. E-mail me what you want the story to be about. And now, on with the fic!

Episode 5: Uu, Ra, Gi, and Ru! Mission Start!

One month. It had been one month since Seiya had graduated, along with others. After completing his first mission with his team, they had went on to do other things like it. Babysitting, shopping, finding lost pets, etc, etc. However, Kabi-Sensei had finally recognized them as mature and said they would finally be doing a mission that might have fighting in it. That was tomorrow though, for today, he had a day off.  
  
Currently, Seiya was sitting in his backyard with his father, meditating. He was learning to mold his chakra and coat his body in it to cover up his stench. You see, when on an important mission, it was best not to alert your foes with your smell. Or at least his father said so.  
  
"I can still smell you, Seiya." Mr. Tenkawa said sternly.  
  
If you were to look at the two now, you would only know who was who because of the height difference. Seiya was basically a carbon copy of his father-short ginger hair, lanky physique, and even the blue shirt and black trousers.  
  
"Sorry, but this is quite hard." Seiya answered.  
  
Seiya's father, along with everyone else from Seiya's family, was not a ninja. Seiya's father had made it into his second year at the academy and then quit. However, he studied martial arts for years, so he was rather good with taijutsu and chakra molding.  
  
"Just focus Seiya...when you feel that warmth in your chest, think about spreading it about your body." Mr. Tenkawa opened his eyes and looked to Seiya. "Good, you've finally done it."  
  
"Wow...that was actually kind of easy." Seiya said, standing up and scratching his head. "So no stink?"  
  
"Nope."

* * *

"Shinku!"  
  
The short red-head turned her head to see Miharu walking towards her. Shinku raised her hand and waved. Miharu had ditched her white kimono today and instead was wearing jean shorts and a white t-shirt. It was, after all, summer.  
  
"Hi." Shinku said timidly.  
  
"Wanna ditch practice and hang out instead?"  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"Oh c'mon!" Miharu stomped her foot. "I'm tired of that crazy sensei of ours, plus I'll show you my favorite cloud-watching spot!"

* * *

"So this is where you go after missions and practice, huh?" Shinku asked, pulling her pocket diary out of her pocket. Somehow, Miharu had convinced her to skip practice.  
  
"Yea..." Miharu sighed and plucked a blade of grass. "My parents died in an accident, and I have no siblings." Miharu had lied; she wasn't ready to tell her whole story yet.  
  
"Are you serious!?" Shinku gasped, dropping her pen. "So you live alone?"  
  
"Yea."  
  
"You're welcome to stay at my house if you like. My parents are real- estate agents, and they own land all over the world. They're rarely there. Usually the maids take care of me."  
  
"Maids? Nah, I like my life as it is." Miharu heard Shinku sigh sadly. She had never known she was rich.  
  
"Do you have any siblings?"  
  
"No." The red-haired girl replied. "It gets really lonely at my house."  
  
"I'll tell you what." Miharu turned her head from the clouds. "Just come here if you ever want to talk. I'll most likely be here. Okay?"  
  
"Okay."

* * *

First he walked backwards, sliding his feet along the ground. Then he did a spin, a split, and began to spin on his back. After spinning for a moment, he jumped onto his hands and balanced for a moment before lowering his head to the ground. Now he was spinning on his head! Sae began to laugh.  
  
"You're the greatest Fever-Sensei."  
  
"Thanks." Fever replied, shaking his head from side to side while dust flew about. He was done with his dancing. "Those girls should be here by now. I'd expect Miharu to skip out because she's lazy, but Shinku too? Oh well, their loss."  
  
They were standing at the foot of the Hokage Mountain, where they usually met. Miharu and Shinku hadn't shown up yet, and it looked like they wouldn't.  
  
"What can we do without them?" Sae asked.  
  
"You can walk up this here mountain."

* * *

It didn't matter what she did. Every punch she did, he blocked. Every kick, he blocked. She had done ninjutsu, and he had dodged it. If she had genjutsu at her disposal, she'd definitely try that to.  
  
"C'mon!" Hyuuga Ko yelled, ushering her to come at him. "You'll never be a true ninja if you're afraid of everything!"  
  
"I am not afraid!" Shizumi yelled at him, raising her arms.  
  
"Could've fooled me!"  
  
That had done it. Shizumi ran forward, throwing her fist forward. Ko deflected it easily, so she did a spinning back hand with her left, which was also deflected. She jumped, spinning into a roundhouse, and aimed for his rib. Unfortunately, his left arm got in the way, so she used the momentum from the black to do a spinning kick to his other side. He caught her foot easily and threw her in front of him. Shizumi caught herself in mid fall and flipped back onto her feet.  
  
"Take this!" Shizumi yelled, her hands doing symbols rapidly. "Katon! HiKaze no Jutsu (Burning Wind Skill)!"  
  
Four spiraling fire chains flew out from Shizumi's back and straight into Ko. He had no time to jump out of the way, it had all happened so fast. But upon looking at the smoldering log in front of her, Shizumi found out he had escaped.  
  
"You can't even do ninjutsu right, and that's what you're best at, right?"  
  
Shizumi looked around the room, her Byakugan active. Even with it though, she couldn't find him. It seemed as if his voice was coming from everywhere.  
  
"Kai!"  
  
"Good job, figuring out that juvenile genjutsu." Ko's voice was now behind her. "But I win."  
  
Ko took the kunai from Shizumi's neck and put it into his robe. His Byakugan deactivated, and he beckoned her as he walked out of the Hyuuga training room. When they got to the door, her Shizumi's mother was standing there.  
  
"Go and prepare the table for dinner." Ko ordered, and Shizumi was gone.  
  
"You know, you shouldn't be so hard on her." Shizumi's mother said matter-of-factly.  
  
"I know, Yuna, but I just want her to be a good ninja."  
  
"But she's your daughter! And I think she's progressing fine."  
  
"You're right, she is. But I want her to do better than just be average." Ko sighed. "She's too timid. She'll never be a successful ninja like that."  
  
Ko went down the hall towards the master bedroom. Yuna sighed. He was right. She was a very scared girl, just like her great grandmother, Hinata Hyuuga. But Hinata had turned out to be one of the best medic-nin's of the ninja world. She just hoped Shizumi's future would be as bright.

* * *

"GOTCHA!" Zukei exclaimed, punching Gan squarely in the jaw.  
  
"Or have I got you?" Gan asked, wiping blood from his mouth.  
  
Kuro, now a huge black wolf, blasted out from under ground and landed on top of the red-haired boy. He began to struggle under Kuro's weight. He couldn't move  
  
"Ready for Round 2?" Gan asked, throwing a kunai up and down.  
  
"Yes!" Zukei yelled, still struggling.  
  
"KirinHenge (Wolf Transformation), revert!" Gan yelled. Kuro transformed back into a small black puppy and ran off toward his friend. Zukei got back up, gasping for breath.  
  
"C'mon, the Chuunin exams are in a couple of months! We have to get stronger!" Gan yelled.  
  
"How do you know we'll get recommended?" Zukei ran a finger through his bright red hair.  
  
"If we get stronger, then we will get recommended." Gan posed, pointing to the sky. "Plus I'll get Anko."  
  
"Alright then." Zukei gave in with a sigh.  
  
"Juujin Bushin (Beast-Human Clone)!"

* * *

Punch, kick, punch, kick, punch. Renku was about to collapse from exhaustion, but he had to bust his punching back. A droplet of sweat dripped down into the puddle under the bag. The reason he was doing this? After the Uchihas did a few missions, Ken had set up individual training for them, to train their strong points. Renku's was taijutsu, Anko's was genjutsu, and Shikari's was ninjutsu. He could hear Ken talking to Anko in the other room.  
  
"You have the potential for genjutsu, but you haven't unlocked it." Ken was watching her, smiling. He knew how to push Anko's buttons. Just tell her she wasn't doing well, and she'd do better.  
  
Anko furrowed her eyebrows, focusing harder. Her face was covered in sweat, and her veins were bulging out. Her head was starting to hurt too, but she had to do this.  
  
Renku looked to his left, and listened into the room next to his. Shikari was in there.  
  
"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Shikari yelled, blowing fire from her fingers.  
  
_"Still not strong enough."_ She thought.  
  
"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" She had been at this for hours. Ken's training was tough. Really tough.

* * *

"My name is Uu." A man with a long black robe and a giant straw hat said. Nothing of him was visible, except for his long protruding nose. He sounded like an old man, and his figure suggested so.  
  
"Team 4, your mission is to guide this man to a meeting spot." The 8th said. "I understand this is the first mission of yours of this caliber. Do your best."

* * *

"My name is Ra." Another man, with a long black robe and a giant straw hat said. Again, nothing of him was visible, but he had yellow eyes. Another old man, probably.  
  
"Please, do your best Team 5." The 8th said. "Escort him to a meeting spot so he can do his secret business."

* * *

Similar instances happened with Team 6 and 7 also. Gi and Ru were the names of the people they had to escort. If they had all known they were doing such similar things, they probably would've known something big was about to happen.  
  
A/N: Oooh, something big's happening. I'm sorry I the end is unclear and rushed, I just really wanted this chapter out by tonight. Anyways, like I said, Wednesday!


	6. Surprise Assault! Special Dragon Kick!

A/N: Well, I hope that I introduced the characters enough because that stuff is over. Now it's time for fighting! The next few chapters are definitely going to be action packed. Oh, and if you don't like the Uchiha's, this chapter is all them. Bold=flashback. On with the fic!

Episode 6: Surprise assault! Special Dragon Kick!

"So um, Uu, was it?" Renku asked. Uu looked to him, his long nose pointing at him. "Where exactly are we taking you?"  
  
"Well," Uu answered, his voice sounding fragile, "You're taking me to Lake Mizuumi, and then you'll be done."  
  
"How easy." Renku thought. It was easy though. Considering this was a D Rank mission, there would be no actual battling, and it would only take until about sunset to get to Lake Mizuumi. It seemed like this mission was going to be just as boring as the rest.

Right now, they were walking through the forest that surrounded Konoha. After meeting Uu, they had packed their stuff and went north, where he directed them. The noon sun was shining directly down on them, but the light was filtered by the trees' leaves.   
  
"Lake Mizuumi?" Shikari asked. Ken nodded. "Isn't that near Yuko village?"  
  
Ken flashed a grin, his blue eyes understanding. "Sure, we could visit there if you want."  
  
Shikari smiled, yet Anko was disgusted. Shikari really got on her nerves sometimes, so she began to glare at her. Shikari, noticing this, began to glare back. Just when it looked like things were about to get ugly, Renku spoke up.  
  
"Uh...I think we're being followed."  
  
"What!?" Uu looked around, horrified. Who was following them? Was it even human? Was it dangerous?  
  
"Yes, we are." Ken responded, talking silently and calmly. "But don't let them know we know. I need to deduce if it's dangerous or not."  
  
Anko whirled around. _"Finally, a ninja battle."_ She thought. All of those missions had been quite boring to her. She knew she could do those. What she didn't know, is if she could do this. And that's what excited her. A challenge.  
  
"Turn around Anko." Shikari said.  
  
"Oh shut up." Anko replied. "It's probably not dangerous."  
  
"But what if it is?" Uu asked with a shiver. "You guys are getting paid to protect me. Remember that."  
  
"Oh be quiet old man." Renku smirked.  
  
Ken, through this, was looking around. He had sworn he'd seen that tree before. But he could be wrong, they were in a forest after all. But those markings on that tree looked so similar. He looked to the left, noticing the marking again. They were in some sort of genjutsu.  
  
"Stop." Ken held his hand up to emphasize the importance. "Someone is using genjutsu on us." A few gasps came from the students and the old man. "Don't worry though. I don't think the person who is using this knows we know."  
  
As they began to walk on further, Ken felt the Genjutsu fade. _"Wonderful..."_ He thought, looking around for any sign of life other than his team and the old man. That's when he heard it. It sounded like something spinning really fast. Something metal...like a shuriken!  
  
"Everyone back!" He yelled, throwing his arms out. The old man and the genins jumped back, surprised at the sudden outburst. Where they would've been a few seconds later, a huge shuriken was embedded in the ground.  
  
"Seems like I missed." A deep voice said, and soon after, the source was found. It had appeared next to the shuriken: a large well-built boy, probably a little older than the genins, with black hair in a pony tail and large eyes with small pupils. He had on a grey suit that covered his body.  
  
"That old man," He said, taking the shuriken out of the ground. "He's mine. Move."  
  
_"There's more ahead."_ Ken thought. _"Stronger ones."_ Ken picked up the old man, putting him on his shoulder. The old man began to struggle.  
  
"Think you can catch up?" He asked. The three genins nodded. "Perfect." Ken then jumped into the trees and away, the yelling of the old man fading into the distance.

"Well that's my cue." The black haired boy said, bracing himself for a jump.  
  
"Oh no." Anko began to finger the hilt of the blade. "We're going to stop you. Uchiha formation!"  
  
"Oh?" The boy began to laugh, putting his shuriken on his back. "Fine, I'll humor you for a little while. But I can't take too long."  
  
With a yell of "Chiken!" Anko had thrown her sword, and it had quickly multiplied. Being much better at genjutsu than before, she had produced about twenty now. He seemed to be having trouble dodging them all, being so big, and when he had finished with them all, he was kicked in the face by Renku. Renku quickly jumped back into the trees, and the swords flew up above the boy and descended upon him. He looked up just in time to see a sword go right through him.  
  
"Hah! Genjutsu!" He exclaimed as all of the swords went through him. All except for one. The real sword fell right by his shoulder, slashing him.  
  
Then Renku was back down from the trees, jumping into the air and kicking him three times in the chest before landing back on his feet. After a viscous spinning punch in the face, Renku grabbed Anko's sword and threw it back to her before jumping back into the trees.  
  
"Katon!" Shikari yelled, running up to the boy. "Gokakyuu no Jutsu!"  
  
A huge flame trailed from the hole her fingers made out in front of her. It hit the little grass on the dirt road, and flew out to the sides hitting trees too. When it was over, everything was scorched but the boy. He just stood there with his shuriken spinning in front of him. He had blocked all of the flames.  
  
"You all are quite weak." He stopped his shuriken from spinning and threw it up into the trees. "You need to train more."  
  
Renku fell from the trees, a loose branch quickly following him. The brown haired youth smiled as his shuriken came back to him. Catching it, he pointed to them all.  
  
"I am Doza the Earthquake you fools! I won't be defeated!"  
  
Anko yelled a battle cry and charged forth, slashing at him. He easily met her slashes with his shuriken and punched her in the stomach. She bent over, clutching her stomach for a second, before coming back up. She slashed again, and it was blocked. Then she was gone.  
  
Doza looked around, trying hard to find her, but couldn't. Where had she gone? He was looking for her so much that he hadn't noticed the vines entangling him until it was too late. In seconds he was covered in vines up to his neck, his shuriken on the ground. They were slowly choking him, but he managed a smile.  
  
"Idiot!" Doza yelled, closing his eyes. After opening his eyes, the vines were gone, and Anko was back in front of him, her sword and his shuriken still deadlocked.  
  
Anko screamed as he punched her hard in the stomach again, sending her flying. He was just about to throw his shuriken and finish her off when he heard Shikari.  
  
"Katon: HiNageru no Jutsu!"  
  
The fireball was blocked by his spinning shuriken, and he was quickly doing his own hand seals. When he finished, he grinned.  
  
"How about a I hit you with some ninjutsu of my own!?" He yelled. "Iwaton: Jimenwaru no Jutsu (Rock Element: Earth Breaking Skill)!"  
  
Doza slammed his hands into the ground and jagged rock spikes began to strike up from the ground. Shikari tried her best to dodge them all, but ended up getting struck by a few, them cutting her arms and legs a bit. When it was over, she was panting.  
  
"Now for the second part!" Doza yelled, slamming his palms together.  
  
All of the spikes shattered into a bunch of rocks, and they began to fly around Shikari. She held her hands over her head, trying to protect herself, but to no avail. A couple of hard hits had her on the ground unconscious.  
  
"You bastard!" Renku's fist was shaking. He had just watched both of his sisters get beaten pretty badly. "I'll kill you!"  
  
Renku charged at Doza, throwing a few punches into the larger boy's chest. Doza shrugged them all off, swinging his shuriken at Renku. Renku jumped on top of it, and when Doza brought it back, he jumped on Doza's head, stomping a couple of times before coming off. Then he kicked the other boy in the chest, and he flew back a few feet. He still didn't seem hurt though.  
  
"You're too weak." Doza said viscously. "And now you're going to die."

* * *

** He just couldn't do it. After all of his punches and kicks, Renku just couldn't break the punching bag. Ken would never recognize him now.  
**  
** _"Maybe if I used chakra."_ He thought. _"Ken did say that chakra was much stronger than physical attacks. But only if you knew how to use it."_  
  
Renku decided to try it anyway. Using what he remembered from the academy, he gathered chakra into his feet. After what seemed like forever, he stopped gathering the chakra. Yelling, he shoved his foot out in front of him in a powerful kick. He could feel all of the chakra leaving his feet and expelling itself onto the bag, breaking it.**

* * *

_"That's it!"_ Renku thought. He only had a little time for this. He closed his eyes and began to focus. He could hear the other boy approaching him and quickly. He had to time it just right for as much power as he could get.  
  
"Now you die!" Doza was upon him now.  
  
Renku, yelling loudly, shoved his foot into Doza with as much force as he could, chakra and all. Doza was hit with the full force and was blown away down the dirt path. When he hit the ground he slid a bit, making indentations on the ground.  
  
Renku kept his foot out, amazed at what he just did. He looked to Doza for a few moments, making sure the boy was done. He was still breathing, but he was definitely out cold. Renku put his foot down and turned around, running to his sisters.  
  
_"I need a name for that..."_ Renku thought. _"It has to be cool...how about Dragon Kick?"_  
  
Renku slapped Anko softly a few times until she stirred. She sat up, alert; it seemed like she remembered what had happened. She looked to Doza, then to Renku questioningly. Renku nodded, answering her unasked question. She sighed, getting up, and they both ran over to Shikari.  
  
"Shikari, get up." Anko demanded. She sighed again, slapping her a few times.  
  
"Ow..." Shikari moaned, sitting up and rubbing her cheek. Anko had slapped a little hard.  
  
"C'mon, there's no time to sit." Renku sounded a little excited. Finally, a little action, and he was the center! "Ken's waiting."  
  
A/N: I'm so sorry that I didn't update yesterday. You see, this storm hit and stuff and it was all electrical and lightning struck our house, but everything's O.K. now. So anyways, does anyone even want couples in this fic? I wasn't even thinking about them, but someone asked, and I could easily make some if you guys want. Just give me the word. And Bebeblu, you never e-mailed me, so I'm gonna write the story for Sano-lun because that person got it right too! E-mail me with an idea for any Naruto fic you want and I'll write it. Oh yea, R&R!


	7. Omamori Shinku's Advanced Bloodline!

A/N: I'm BAAAACK! I was at the beach, and my internet died, and lots of other stuff happened, so that's why I haven't updated in forever! I'm so sorry! But anyways, now that it's summer time and there's no school, I'll have plenty of time to update! And, there's going to be some more fics! I'll give you previews at the end of this chapter! On with the fic!  
  
Episode 7: Omamori Shinku's Advanced Bloodline!  
  
A droplet of water slid down a leaf and dropped onto the ground. Like the hundreds before it, it had landed with a resonating plop. It looked like it had been like this all morning, so by now, there were a few small puddles here and there. Fever-Sensei seemed to be focusing on them quite a bit, unlike the rest of the group, who seemed to be caught up in their own reveries. Sae almost felt bad for breaking the peaceful silence.  
  
"What's troubling you Sensei?" Sae asked. The red-haired girl and her sensei had come to be good friends over the month. Sae didn't really like Shinku or Miharu all that much, and the two didn't want much to do with her or Fever-Sensei either.  
  
Fever looked a bit surprised at the break in the silence. He adjusted his glasses a bit, shaking his head. His face looked stern, not relaxed like usual, and it was messing with Sae's head. She just shook off the feeling and kept walking. Worrying would only mess with her more.  
  
"How long until we reach the lake?" Sae asked, looking to Ra. He was the one who need to be escorted there, he should know.  
  
"Oh, not long." The old man answered. He was looking around, as if looking for something.  
  
Suddenly, there was a rustling in the trees. Fever-Sensei looked up alertly into the trees, all three of his students gripping their kunai immediately. They were ready for anything. To Sae's surprise, and relief, a squirrel ran down the trunk of the tree the rustling came from and ran off down the path where they had come from. Sae watched as it found another tree and quickly ran up it.  
  
"Hey Sensei, weren't there-  
  
"Puddles of water there a few minutes ago?" Fever-Sensei had finished her question for her, as if reading her mind.  
  
Sae gulped. That had to mean trouble. But then it hit her. Why hadn't she noticed it before? It hadn't rained in a few weeks, so why were the leaves so wet? That must have been what was bothering her sensei. Sae looked to Ra, who looked scared stiff, then to her comrades. They each were moving their hands into the seal to break up genjutsu, just like her. However, they were stopped before they could do it.  
  
"It's not genjutsu." Fever-Sensei said calmly.  
  
In one quick motion, their sensei had pulled out a small blade and had extended it, making it look like a halberd. Then he moved in front of them and began twirling it so fast that all they could see was a blur. They heard noise, like blade hitting blade, then he turned to them.  
  
"Mist-nins."  
  
Out of the trees, three ninjas clad all in black rushed Team 6. Ra tried to jump into the bushes, but Fever grabbed him and jumped into the trees with him. It was time to see just how good his team was.  
  
Sae took the one on the right and uppercut the ninja in the face. The ninja cried out, she was a girl, and flipped backwards. When the kunoichi landed on her feet, she jumped into the air and spun around, kicking Sae in the face. Sae recovered quickly, running at the ninja and elbowing her in the chest. The masked kunoichi slid across the ground a few feet, giving Sae the chance to use a jutsu.  
  
"Chakra Kyuushu! (Chakra Absorbtion)! She yelled.  
  
Miharu was having just as much luck with her opponent. He had started off by trying to punch her in the face, but she had easily grabbed his fist and threw him to the side. She stomped him a couple of times before letting him get back up. He charged at her again, this time swinging a kunai, but she dodged it, grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. He crashed straight into her fist, and gasped, falling to his knees.  
  
Shinku was having quite a bit of trouble, unlike her teammates. Every single punch and kick, he would block, and counter with something much more powerful. She had tried to hit him many times already, but she couldn't allow herself to go down. Shinku got up from his latest counter attack, breathing hard. She ran towards him, and instead of trying to hit him, she tackled him, right into a tree. Then she began to pummel him with punches. She punched as hard as she could, as fast as she could. All ten hits had hit him square in the stomach, but he was unhurt. He shoved her back, and shrugging it off, kicked her in the stomach. Shinku fell to the ground in much pain.  
  
Miharu jumped onto the guy Shinku was fighting, and began to punch him in the face. These punches he did feel. Miharu continued to punch; she could tell he was bleeding from the blood seeping through the mask. Shinku tried to warn her about the guy sneaking up behind her, but she couldn't find her voice.  
  
The ninja picked Miharu up off of his ally, and slammed her to the ground, hard. Miharu felt all of the oxygen leave her lungs as the ground met her stomach. What was worse, feet immediately began kicking her from both sides. The tables had turned so quickly.  
  
"A kawarimi?" Sae asked herself as she picked her hand up off of the log. After trying to absorb the kunoichi's chakra, she had turned into a log. Sae was trying to pinpoint her location, but just couldn't.  
  
"Don't move." A female voice said from behind her. A kunai was up to Sae's throat, so she had to follow the ninja's commands. The Kunoichi began to push her towards her teammates.  
  
Shinku heard footsteps approaching and stood up, grasping her stomach. The guy had kicked hard. Really hard. Her heart sank when she saw that Sae had a kunai to her throat. Shinku fell to her knees. _"Why can't I do anything?"_ She thought.  
  
The two male ninjas stopped kicking Miharu and looked to Sae and their ally. You could tell that they were smiling. You could tell that their mission was about to be accomplished.  
  
"Tell us where the old man is." The female ninja demanded, pushing the kunai harder into Sae's throat. There was silence. "Tell us!" A bit of blood began to trickle from Sae's throat. That's when she heard it. The jutsu that would save them all.  
  
"Soshi Kuchiyose: Kokukaze (Element Summoning: Cutting Wind)!"  
  
All of a sudden, the kunoichi's hand was cut, and she dropped the kunai. She was blown back into a tree, and cuts began to appear all over her body. Her allies were blown up into the air, each screaming in pain as their ninja garments were ripped and cuts were put all over them. And in one big blast, they were all thrown to the ground in front of Miharu. She got up, dusting herself off.  
  
"We're not giving up the old man." She said sternly.  
  
Shinku stood up, her stomach starting to feel better, and Sae walked over to the three ninjas, rubbing her neck. They were tough, but in the end, they had won.  
  
Sae began to rub her eyes. She was finding it hard to see. For some reason, her vision was getting foggy. She looked to Miharu, then to Shinku. There was fog everywhere! It wasn't just her. She looked to the ground. The ninjas were gone.  
  
"Soshi Kuchiyose: Senpuu (Whirlwind)!"  
  
Several strong gusts of wind began to blow all of the mist and fog away. Team 6 looked up the path, and there were the three ninjas. They were doing seals. It was too late by now though, the ninjutsu had finished.  
  
"Suiton: Touketsu Kabe no Jutsu (Water Element: Frozen Wall Skill)!"  
  
A huge dome of ice appeared around them, and they all began doing more seals. It seemed they intended to end it all here and now with a big bang. Team 6 needed to get through the ice and stop them, or else.  
  
Sae and Miharu began doing fire jutsus, but every fireball and blaze that hit the wall would just dissipate. Sae and Miharu were running out of chakra, and the three ninjas were still doing seals. Shinku was beginning to get scared. _"If they finish..."_ She thought, then shook the thought away. There was only one way. Shinku brought out a kunai and stabbed herself in the hand with it. She cringed in pain, but didn't scream out.  
  
"What are you doing!?" Miharu yelled, running to her and yanking the kunai out. It was too late, Shinku's hand was gushing blood. Sae looked pretty freaked out.  
  
Fever watched on from in the trees and sheathed his sword. _"Maybe they won't need my help after all..."_ He thought.  
  
"Chishio Henge no Jutsu (Blood Transformation Skill)!" Shinku yelled.  
  
Spikes exploded forth from Shinku's hand and burrowed themselves in the ground. A second later, the spikes sprung out of the ground inside the dome and began to wrap themselves around the three ninjas. Their seals were interrupted, the jutsu would not finish. Now that their concentration was broken the ice dome faded away. Shinku was panting. She began to feel dizzy from blood loss. But she couldn't faint now. She was the hero.  
  
"Congratulations on your first victory guys." Fever-Sensei said, jumping out of the trees. Ra was still slung over his shoulder.  
  
The three of them were silent. Fever looked to each one, noticing the exhaustion on each of their faces. The battle was tough for them. Luckily, the mission was almost over.  
  
"So," Fever started, walking over to the three entangled ninjas. "Who sent you?"  
  
On of them male ninjas began to say a name, but the female interrupted him.  
  
"Shut up, we're not telling you squat!"  
  
"What!? I wanna get out of here!"  
  
"I don't care!"  
  
"Well I do!"  
  
"If you tell him, I swear Zaku, I'll make your life a living hell!"  
  
"Would you both just shut up!?" The other male ninja yelled. "You two never quit bickering!" Fever-Sensei began to laugh to himself. These three were definitely amateurs.  
  
"C'mon, the mission is almost over!" Fever yelled over his shoulder. His three students followed behind.  
  
And the silence commenced.

A/N: It's done! The chapter is done! Yay! Anyways, as promised, here's a preview for a couple of new fics.  
  
Have you ever wondered where Kakashi got his first "Come Come Paradise" book? Well worry no more! Don't miss "Come Come Paradise: Origins"  
  
Also, Sakura has decided to put an ad in the paper about a certain 'Sasuke Lovers Club'. Naruto, wanting to get closer to Sakura, decides to join, but it's for girls only! I see a certain Sexy no Jutsu being used quite a bit in this fic. Don't miss "The Sasuke Lovers Club"  
  
The last fic is set after the current saga. However, Naruto was forced to kill Sasuke. Ino has become depressed and it doesn't seem things will get better for her. However, her life may rebound back after a chance meeting in the park between her and Kiba. Don't miss "A walk in the Park"  
  
Three, count 'em, three fics in progress. I hope you're all excited! Ja ne!


	8. The Vicious Tiger Boy! Team 5 vs Han!

Episode 8: The Vicous Tiger Boy! Team 5 vs. Han!  
  
The 8th blew smoke from his pipe into the air, bringing his fingers to his chin in thought. Four people, all with similar appearances and requests, all coming to his village. All of them suspicious too, not telling much about their mission. Things were just too...suspicious. He took another long drag from his pipe. Four of his best jounins were teachers, and all four were gone now. Blowing smoke into the air, he could only hope that nothing would happen.

* * *

Gan sighed; his only hopes of having an exciting day were now crushed. Sure, this mission was unlike any other, and even higher in class than the usual ones. That didn't mean that there'd be action though. On top of that, it was quiet, and he couldn't stand quiet.  
  
"So uh..." He tried desperately to make some conversation. "Anyone's clan do anything special?" He asked.  
  
"Uh...not really..." Sei mumbled, scratching his head.  
  
"Yes, us Uzumaki's have a dormant red chakra deep within us." Rei piped in. "It's very powerful, and only the strongest Uzumaki's know how to control it."  
  
"Interesting..." Gan thought, unconsciously stroking his dog hidden in his coat. He smelled something...weird. He looked at Seiya. No not him, plus he had a chakra coating on. He turned to Rei, then Kabi. None of them. "Wait..." he thought. "Where's the old man!?"  
  
"So what's special about your-"Rei didn't get to finish her question, for Gan was screaming.  
  
"Where's the old man!?"  
  
"Hey, don't interrupt me!"  
  
"Forget about that, where's the old man!?"  
  
"Look buddy, you need an attitude change!"  
  
"Forget about that!"  
  
"No!"  
  
"We're on a mission, and we're about to fail it!"  
  
"I don't want to hear it until you say you're sorry!"  
  
Gan lowered his head, all this screaming had woke up Kuro. He yipped a bit and jumped out of Gan's coat. Gan then looked surprised, looking around. His teacher and teammate were gone!  
  
"They're gone...?" He asked.  
  
"What?" Rei looked around too. They were gone. "Where's the old man?"  
  
"Oh man..." Gan sweat dropped. "Come on."  
  
"Hey!" Gan grabbed Rei's arm and jumped into the trees, and soon he was on the scent of his teacher, dragging Rei along. When he finally reached his teacher and teammate, he was out of breath. Seiya shushed him.  
  
"Gan, you could warn me when-"Rei was interrupted again, this time by Kabi's hand turning her head in the direction of the road. She stopped talking, covering her mouth.  
  
In the road was three people. Two of them had masks on, but you could tell by their voices they were female. Another of them was quite strange looking. He had a human body, yet he had feline features. He had the ears of a tiger, and marking on his face like whiskers. His feet were without shoes, but then again, no shoes would probably work for his paw like ones. There were long claws coming from them.  
  
"There are people tracking us, Han." One of the female ninjas said to the cat boy.  
  
"Oh don't worry," The boy, Han, said. "You two can go on back, I'll stay behind for a bit."  
  
The two female ninjas nodded, and disappeared. Han remained, and walked over to a tree. It was out of sight, so Team 5 had to move closer. What they saw, however, made their hearts jump.  
  
The old man was tied to a tree. Han just sat beside the old man, as if waiting for something. Or someone...was he waiting for them?  
  
"It was a cat all along..." Gan said to himself, getting his kunai ready. He hated cats a lot already, and this cat person was no exception.  
  
"Okay students. It's time for your first real battle." Kabi's usual expressionless face was...still expressionless. However, there was a hint of excitement. "I'll get the old man to safety while you fight. I think this will be a great learning experience, as well as a good way to get acquainted."  
  
"Wow Sensei. That's the most I've ever heard you say." Seiya chimed in, getting ready to pounce on the enemy.  
  
"I'm so ready for this..." Rei was stretching. _"Riku will be so jealous."_  
  
"Ready..." Gan began. "Set...GO!"  
  
All three genins jumped down from the tree, and landed on the ground, rushing the tiger boy. He smiled, jumping up, and braced for their attack. He jumped right over Gan, who was the first one, then kicked Seiya in the face. When Han landed, he swept his foot around, tripping Rei. By now, Seiya had hit a tree.  
  
"It's about time you attacked." The boy said. He seemed quite hyped for the battle.  
  
_"Damn cat."_ Gan thought, turning around. He ran towards Han, and the two began fighting. Each punch Gan would throw, Han would deflect, and when Han would counter, Gan would deflect. It went in this cycle for a while, until Han's cat reflexes one out. He hit Gan away, Kuro had jumped out of the trees and latched on to his arm.  
  
"Damn dog!" Han pulled out a kunai and stabbed the dog, but no blood came out. It almost seemed like the dog was stuffed...  
  
Han's eyes grew wide, and he looked to Gan. The boy was smiling. He quickly pulled the dog off his arm and tossed it up into the air. It burst open, and it began raining kunai and needles. When it was over, Han had been hit with a few. He looked around, only to see no one.  
  
"One of the girls should've stayed behind instead." He said to himself.  
  
Just then, all three of Team 5 jumped down from the trees, much to Han's surprise. He easily dodged Gan's punch, and Rei's kick was even harder, but Seiya's punch was just too much. And unfortunately, Seiya was quite good with taijutsu, therefore, it hurt. A lot.  
  
Han jumped out of the circle Team 5 had formed around him and backed up into a tree. His stomach was hurting, he had cuts all over him, and it was three on one. But he was still smiling. He began to do some seals, but it was too late for them to stop him.  
  
"Tora Kaihen (Tiger Transformation)!" He yelled.  
  
Han's body to bulge with muscles. He human hands no longer human, but were now covered in fur and had claws. His canines grew long, and his eyes turned yellow. His pupils, human before, were now cat pupils. To top it all of, he was covered in orange and black fur.  
  
"Anyone have a silver bullet?" Gan asked, laughing nervously. Even Kuro, who hated cats, was cowering, hiding in his jacket.  
  
"This isn't the time for jokes..." Rei squeaked. She wanted to move, but she couldn't. She was petrified.  
  
"You guys, we have to make a pla-"WHAM! Seiya was interrupted by the weretiger slamming its shoulder into him. He flew back and hit a tree, hard. It was both fast and powerful.  
  
Rei turned to where the weretiger was, but it was gone now. She turned to Gan, and he seemed just as scared as she was. Seiya was down, and both of them didn't know where the beast was. _"Where's Kabi-Sensei when you need him?"_ She wondered to herself.  
  
"I'm going to fight it." Gan said. "Juujin Bunshin (Beast Human Clone)!"  
  
Akamaru reluctantly leapt onto Gan's back and became a replica of Kiba. Kiba grew claws too, and began to look more beast like. The two jumped off into the trees.  
  
_"I guess you have to beat a beast with a beast..."_ Rei thought. She finally summoned up the will power to move, right before the three of them fell out of the tree.  
  
The two were again facing off, but this time, each one was trading blows. Gan punched Han in the face, and Han countered with a kick in the stomach. Gan then jumped onto Han's back and began punching him. Han roared and grabbed Gan, slinging him into a tree. Then he rushed forward, raising his claws to finish him off, but Kuro jumped in. Kuro kicked Han, and while Han was still in the air from the kick, he jumped on him pinning him to the ground. Kuro then jumped into the air.  
  
"Gatsuuga (Double Piercing Fang)!"  
  
Gan and Kuro became two tornadoes of claws and both were charging at Han. The weretiger got up and held it's arms out. When the tornadoes collided with him, there were cuts all over his arm. However, he had stopped the dog and its master from whirling. Han reverted to his human form, and so did Gan. Kuro turned back into a puppy. They were all out of chakra.  
  
"Now, you die..." Han said, raising a kunai above his head. He was ready to stab Gan, but a needle flew into his hand.  
  
"Ouch!" He dropped the kunai, turning around. There was still one more left, but he hadn't the chakra for her.  
  
"There," Rei said triumphantly. "Now I've participated in the battle."  
  
"I'd better be getting paid good for this..." Han sighed, jumping into the trees and away.  
  
"Thanks..." Gan said. "I'm exhausted. I don't think I could've stopped him."  
  
"Is the battle over yet?" Seiya asked.  
  
"You're awake!" Rei exclaimed.  
  
"I was always awake." Seiya replied. "It's just that I was seeing how strong you both were. I could've beaten that thing easily."  
  
"Right." Kabi said, coming out from behind a tree with Ra. "I actually wasn't expecting you guys to win. When we get home, I'm gonna train you guys so hard..."  
  
"Hey hey." The old man spoke up. "Worry about getting me to that lake first."  
  
Seiya stood up, rubbing his back. Hitting that tree really did hurt. Rei stood up too, and went to help Gan up. Kabi was still talking about training. He was getting starry eyed now, talking about how they would pass the chuunin exams and the other jounins' students wouldn't. Then he was talking about bragging.  
  
Well, it sure beat walking in the quiet.  
  
A/N: Like it? Hate it? Don't worry, more fighting is to come, and everyone will get their chance to shine! I'll have the next chapter up by Monday. 


	9. The Endless Ninja Battle

A/N: I'm so sorry that I'm late! I told you the next one would be here Monday, but it's not. So sorry!  
  
Episode 9: The Endless Ninja fight!  
  
Marina stood tapping her foot impatiently, glaring at Ru. She and her team of genin students were supposed to be escorting him to Lake Mizuumi, yet no more than two hours into their trek, he needed a break. Luckily at the time, they were right by a meadow, so a break they took. She wanted to get on with the mission, and by the looks of it, the genins did too.  
  
Shizumi opened her pupiless white eyes. For the past half hour, she'd been meditating, sitting on a log with Riku. Something had just now broken her concentration. She looked around, Riku was still relaxing on the log beside her, Zukei relaxing on the grass in front. She watched as he idly plucked a blade of grass. He looked quite bored.  
  
"Yes Zukei?" Shizumi asked, assuming it was him.  
  
"What?" He answered, looking up from his activity.  
  
"You didn't just now rouse me from my meditation?"  
  
"No." He went back to plucking the grass. It must have been pretty interesting.  
  
"Was it you, Riku?" Shizume asked, turning to the girl laying down beside her.  
  
"Hmm...?" Riku sounded half asleep, looking the part too. She had taken her ponytail out, and the ribbon she used to tie her hair with lie in her open palm, looking as if it would fall out at any moment.  
  
Shizumi looked around the meadow. No animals around. Marina and the old man were a few feet away. It could've been nothing, but she just couldn't shrug it off. There was something going down.  
  
"Look Ru, we're leaving." Marina said anxiously. Something seemed to be bothering her. "C'mon students."  
  
Marina ran on as Ru and the genins slowly gathered themselves up. The genins were all quite happy to go, but the old man seemed a little unhappy. He probably could've stayed a little longer.  
  
"What a nice nap." Riku said with a yawn, putting her hair back into it's braided ponytail. "I didn't get much sleep last night because I was excited about this mission."  
  
"Me neither." Zukei chimed in.  
  
"I just hope we don't run into trouble." Shizumi muttered.  
  
"Funny, I want to." Zukei replied. "But knowing the ranking for this mission, we probably won't."  
  
Just then, a loud explosion rang throughout the meadow. The genins and the old man looked to where it came from, seeing smoke rise from the spot. Marina was nowhere to be seen.  
  
The sound of feet could be heard as a bunch of shadows began circling the four people. Shizume ran over to Ru, standing in front of him, her fists ready. She had been trained for this.  
  
"Sh-Shizumi!" Riku was quite nervous. "What do we do?"  
  
"We fight!" Zukei answered for the Hyuuga girl, pulling a long chain from his pocket. "I haven't been training with this weapon for nothing!"  
  
Upon closer inspection, Riku noticed that it wasn't just a chain. It was a chain with a large blade attached at the end, and it looked like it could hurt someone. It probably took a lot of training to be able to use such a thing. She looked to Shizumi, who nodded to her, and went to help her protect the old man. That's when the shadows pounced.  
  
There were twelve in all, four going to each of the genins. Shizumi seemed to have to upper hand at the beginning, quickly hitting two in the chest with her palm. They disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the other two took this cover and used it to their advantage. One snuck up behind her and grabbed her, limiting her movement. Her arms, however, could still move fine. The other charged at her and was just about to hit her when she finished her seals.  
  
"Katon! HiKaze no Jutsu!"  
  
Four spiraling chains of fire flew from her back, hitting the one behind her, and into the one in front. Shizumi lowered her arms, but a moment too soon, as five others quickly took their place.  
  
As the four ninjas charged at Riku, she did a few seals. She was ready for battle. The first one ran up to her, and was just about to kick her, but she withdrew, seemingly from nowhere, a sword made of fire. She slashed him with it, and he exploded into a puff of smoke. The other three charged at her, and she did away with them quickly as well. _"This combat thing isn't so tough."_ She thought.  
  
The four ninjas Zukei was fighting decided to surround him, and considering his choice of weapon, it wasn't a good idea. He was swinging his chain around above his head while waiting for the ninjas to move. When they all started running his way at the same time, he turned around 360 degrees with the chain outstretched, and it hit them all, destroying them. He smiled as his work, but his celebration was cut short as five more rose from the ground.  
  
Riku finished off three of the clones before noticing Ru's screams. A clone was running off into the forest with him! She looked over to Shizumi, who was busy with about ten ninja clones, then to Zukei, who was busy with even more. It was up to her. She impaled the other two, then ran off.  
  
"Where's Riku?" Zukei yelled, slamming his chain into another ninja. It seemed that they wouldn't end.  
  
"Where's Ru?" Shizumi yelled back, backhanding a ninja into oblivion. These ninjas were easy, but in large groups, they could tire someone out. They wouldn't last too much longer.

* * *

Riku dove and tackled the clone, Ru falling out of its hands. To her surprise, it didn't explode into smoke, it just pushed her off. It stood up, brushing itself off.  
  
"So my diversion didn't work." The ninja said in a male voice.  
  
"That's right!" Riku pointed at him. "You've lost. Call of the clones."  
  
"Why?" He asked, shrugging. "There's still hundreds of them left."  
  
Riku's eyes widened in shock. Hundreds!? She knew that the ninjas were easy to beat, but hundreds more would definitely put her comrades in danger. She knew what she had to do. She did a couple of seals and drew her fire sword.  
  
"If it's a fight you want..." The ninja pulled out a real sword. "Then it's a fight you will get."  
  
The two charged at each other and their swords clashed. Riku spun around slashing, but he parried, countering with a vertical slash of his own. She blocked the blow, jumping back a bit. How was it that his sword could block hers?  
  
"This sword is imbued with pure chakra." The ninja said, as if reading her mind. "You won't be able to defeat me."  
  
He pointed his sword at her, and a ball of light exploded forth, shooting towards her like a bullet. She jumped out of the way just in time as the ground where she was turned into a crater. She charged at him again, ready for round two.

* * *

Zukei stabbed his chain into one clone, then threw it into another, making them both disappear. He had long since lost count of how many clones he had killed, but he guessed somewhere around a hundred. Shizumi wasn't far behind him, killing them just as efficiently as he was. Sweat was pouring from both of their bodies. They wouldn't last much longer.

* * *

The sounds of swords clashing could be heard throughout the woods. The two had been at this for a while now, and neither looked like they were going to let up. Another deadlock. Riku spun into a roundhouse, hitting the ninja, just as he managed to throw a kunai into her arm. She pulled it out, wincing. It hadn't gone very deep, but it still hurt. At least it wasn't her sword arm, her right.  
  
"This battle is going nowhere fast." The ninja said, pointing his sword at her again. "Your comrades will be dead soon. I'll let you join them."  
  
He shot another wave of chakra, but this time, Riku wasn't ready. All she could do before the blast hit was raise her flaming sword. She closed her eyes, awaiting death. She felt a force push against her, and then a loud bang, and the sound of something soaring through the air. She opened her eyes in time to see the ninja's sword crash to the ground. It seemed she had deflected the chakra blast.  
  
"Is it me who is going to die?" Riku asked, a smirk on her face. She charged at him and stabbed him with her sword. The ninja melted away, the sword too.  
  
Zukei was probably about one minute from passing out. Shizumi too. Combined, they had probably both ripped threw a few hundred of the ninjas, steadily getting sloppier and sloppier, and giving away a few hits. They were exhausted now, and things were not looking their way.  
  
Zukei screamed, throwing his chain into one, and when he hit it, they all melted away. He looked over to Shizumi, who managed to punch one last time, and they all seemed to melt away.  
  
"What?" was all that came from the red-head's mouth as he fell backwards on his bum.  
  
"Don't question, be happy." Shizumi answered, sinking to her knees. They had won.

* * *

"I congratulate you." Came a voice from in the trees. Riku looked up to see a man who looked just like the ninja she just fought. "I have run out of chakra."  
  
"Well, it was a natural result." Riku answered pompously.  
  
"Yes well, I have a feeling we shall meet again. My job here is done."  
  
And with that, he was gone. Riku looked over to the three Ru had been resting on, to find him smiling. He stood up slowly, dusting himself off, and they both began to walk out of the woods. _"Wasn't his job to capture Ru though?"_ Riku thought.

* * *

When they finally got out of the woods, Marina was giving helping the other two to their feet. She greeted the two as they got out.  
  
"I see you guys were successful." She smiled.  
  
"I thought you were dead!" Riku exclaimed, running over to her teacher. Marina just seemed to laugh.  
  
"Marina explained to me that the flare of chakra from all of the clones appearing around us disturbed my meditation." Shizumi stated.  
  
"Oh, please don't explain it all. I hate lessons." Zukei said.  
  
"Oh shut up." Riku yelled.  
  
And so, the five went off towards their destination, not knowing what surprises lay ahead of them. This was only the beginning of something evil.  
  
A/N: Okay, next chappy up Thursday, this time I promise with all my heart! =) 


	10. Surprise at Lake Mizuumi!

A/N: Another chapter, hurray! Next one due out by next Thursday!  
  
Episode 10: The Surprise at Lake Mizuumi!  
  
"Well it's about time you got here kids..." Ken said with a smile on his face. "I was just about to go looking for you."  
  
Ken was sitting against a tree, his eyes closed. Had he not just spoken to them, Team 4 probably would've thought him to be asleep. Uu was pacing back and forth, looking anxious.  
  
"Well it doesn't look like you were about to come get us..." Anko lifted on eyebrow, putting a hand on her hip. She wasn't in the best of moods.  
  
"We could've been killed; do you not care about us?" Shikari frowned.  
  
"I have my reasons..." He said silently, getting up. "We'd best be going."  
  
"They probably would've been killed if it wasn't for me!" Renku exclaimed. "Let me tell you all about it."  
  
As they all began their walk again, Renku explained how after he left, the girls immediately charged while he stayed in the background observing the ninja's fighting style. He then went on about how they got beat up and came begging to him to defeat the opponent. Then he went on about how he easily defeated his opponent and how he was so high above the genin level. The girls, although they weren't conscious for everything, knew he was lying.  
  
"He's lying sensei." Shikari said.  
  
"I am not!" Renku snapped.  
  
"Who would believe such a bullcrap story anyway?" Anko asked him, poking him.  
  
"Well sensei would, because it's true!" Renku yelled, looking to Ken. "You believe me, right?"  
  
Ken nodded his head, to which Shikari screamed a "What!?" Ken then turned to her, making sure Renku wasn't looking, and shook his head. Shikari sighed in relief and looked to Anko, smiling. She really didn't seem to care. As long as she knew it wasn't true, she was fine.

* * *

"So how much longer?" Renku asked, putting his hand behind his head. It had been almost an hour since they had started walking again, and the mission was getting boring again.  
  
"I must agree, this mission could be a bit more eventful." Anko said.  
  
"What, so I could save you again?" Renku asked playfully.  
  
"Shut up!" Anko yelled. "It was a fluke!"  
  
"Just give him credit will you?" Shikari joined the conversation, but uninvited.  
  
"Who said you were in this?" Anko sneered.  
  
"I did!" Shikari retorted.  
  
"Oh would you kids stop bickering!" The old man yelled. "That's all you three do! It's hard to believe you're a team!"  
  
The three all shut their mouths at that. And then the silence began again.  
  
"He's right you know." Ken said. "You three should act more like a team."  
  
"We fight like one, I think that's enough." Anko said snidely.  
  
"Whatever you say..." Ken gave up. Maybe another time.  
  
"Anyways, we're almost there. Probably another five minutes." The old man chirped. Sure enough, five minutes later, they were there.  
  
Lake Mizuumi. It was a beautiful place, with sparkling clear water and fish swimming all over. The bank was covered in high grass and had a lot of picnic tables. It was large and circular, and had a large fishing island in the middle of it. There were boats at the banks that could be used to take people there. It was a wonderful site...on clear days anyway.  
  
For some reason, the lake had a thick fog lingering over it, so none of the sights could be seen. Fortunately, nobody was there for the sights. Uu walked over to a boat, hopping in.  
  
"I need you to take me to the fishing island." He said, pointing across the lake.  
  
"Alright then." Ken smiled. The mission was almost over.  
  
"Kids, these boats don't fit many, so I'll just let you guys stay here. Don't beat each other up too bad."  
  
"Don't worry," Shikari assured him. "I'll keep an eye on them." Anko glared at her for this.  
  
Ken gave the three a thumbs up as he peddled the boat deeper and deeper into the fog, until they could see him no more. Now it was just the three of them, until he got back that is.

* * *

"No one here..." Ken thought as the boat came to a gentle stop at the island. He looked around; it was quite foggy and very hard to see. He looked back to the old man, who was stepping out of the boat.  
  
"The person I'm meeting will be here shortly." He said, adjusting his hat. "Then you can go."  
  
Ken nodded, looking around some more. He could see no assassins, and could sense none either. Plus, if one came, he'd most likely hear them. Then he heard three other thuds. Who came out of the fog was definitely not who he was expecting to see.

* * *

"So you guys don't think I'm weird or anything?" Shinku asked timidly, twiddling her thumbs.  
  
"Why would we?" Miharu inquired.  
  
Everyone looked to Shinku, curious. "Well, my bloodline..." She was still dizzy from using so much blood. "Don't you think...?"  
  
"Oh come on!" Fever said, ruffling the girls hair. "You're a ninja! They all have something special about them, and that's yours."  
  
"Thanks." Shinku smiled.  
  
"Now weird, that's definitely me." Fever pointed to himself.  
  
"Yep." All three genins said, plus the old man.  
  
They had been walking for a while, and it was getting quite close to sunset. Fever had said they'd be there by sunset, so they'd be there soon. Fever decided to start some small talk to make the walk faster.  
  
"So what do you guys think about those ninjas?"  
  
"Well at first they seemed like a good ninja team." Miharu said.  
  
"But after Shinku kicked their ass," Sae started, Shinku blushing, "They seemed more like the Three Stooges."  
  
"Yea, they did." Fever agreed. "I always want you guys to work as a team. I examined each of your talents, and when we get back, we're going to work on team based fighting. You guys just all kind of went on your own...not a good idea."  
  
Finally, they arrived at Lake Mizuumi, and just like when Ken's team arrived, it was extremely foggy. All three of the genins were squinting, trying to see something, but they couldn't. Only the bank of the water and a paddleboat could be seen.  
  
"This is Lake Mizuumi?" Sae asked disappointed.  
  
"I heard it was beautiful, but there's nothing to see." Shinku added.  
  
"Well, since we can't see anything," Miharu sighed, sitting down. "Break time."  
  
The other two genins sat down with her. Fever slapped his head, wondering why he had to get the lazy ones. He smiled, looking to the old man.  
  
"What next?" He asked.  
  
"You take me to the island." Gi replied. "Those children can stay here."  
  
"Good job children, you've earned yourself a rest." Fever said, turning to the children. He and the old man then hopped in the boat.  
  
"If you're too anxious to rest, you could head back." Fever said, waving. "I'll catch up."  
  
The three genins turned around and began heading back. The mission was almost complete.

* * *

"Well that's not what I was expecting to see..." Fever said with a hint of surprise in his voice, stepping out of the boat.

* * *

"You so were not faking it!" Gan yelled to Seiya. "You were out cold!"  
  
"I was not! I was observing, seeing how strong the competition was!" Seiya yelled back. They'd been at each other's throats for about ten minutes now.  
  
"Competition!?" Gan asked. "I'm more than enough for you!" Kuro yipped a bit form in his coat.  
  
"Fine, you can have you stupid strength!" Seiya yelled. "I'll always be faster!"  
  
"You're not faster." Gan laughed. Kuro yipped.  
  
"Alright fine. We'll have a race to Lake Mizuumi. It's right at the end of this path." Seiya pointed down the path, Gan nodding. "Go!"  
  
Both boys took off down the path, and were out of eyesight quite quickly. Kabi just looked on and smiled. _"Ahh to be young again."_ He thought.

* * *

Gan and Seiya were running side by side, neither one able to gain the upper hand. From where this race was going, it was going to be a tie, and Seiya didn't like that. He had already admitted Gan was stronger, but if Gan were to tie him in a race?  
  
_"I didn't shave off all of my hair for nothing!"_ Seiya thought, pushing himself. He passed by Gan and ran off a few feet ahead. That's when Lake Mizuumi came into view.

* * *

"You know, sometimes those two remind me more of goats then people, always butting heads like that." Rei said to Kabi.  
  
"Oh come on, you don't mean to tell me that you aren't competitive?" the jounin asked. "I sure was. I remember-"  
  
"No, please don't give me a history lesson!" Rei exclaimed, shaking her head.  
  
"Oh come on, I'm not that old." Kabi said. He then lowered his voice to a whisper. "You want old, that old man is old."  
  
"You're both old to me, he's just older." Rei smiled when she saw Kabi's defeated face.  
  
"You are competitive Rei. With your cousin Riku." Gan said. Rei's eyes narrowed evilly.  
  
"We're rivals, at least until I get Hokage." Rei then smiled. "Then she'll be at my command."  
  
"What if she gets it?" Kabi asked.  
  
"She won't!" Riku snapped.  
  
"Whatever, you're still competitive, just like those two." Kabi said, going back to the previous subject.  
  
"Hey look, we're here!" Riku exclaimed, not liking to be wrong.  
  
"So we are..." Kabi said to himself. That walk was quick.  
  
Upon walking onto the misty bank, Ra, Kabi, and Riku, saw Gan and Seiya. Seiya was standing up with a smile on his face, while Gan was sitting in the sand, sadly petting his puppy. Obviously, Seiya had won.  
  
"Don't say anything..." Gan venomously said to Riku. She just smiled.  
  
"I wasn't..." Riku giggled.  
  
Kabi looked around, noticing the fogginess of the Lake. It usually wasn't like this, especially if the rest of the forest was clear. The fog seemed so...unnatural. But he wasn't about to tell his students that.  
  
"Take me across..." The old man said. Gan nodded, hopping in the boat, the old man following suit.  
  
"You kids can explore the lake." He said, his figure fading away into the fog. "It's a nice place."  
  
Gan stood up and began walking down the bank. Seiya and Riku followed, there really was nothing else to do. Plus, Kabi was a jounin. He'd be okay.

* * *

"It seems we've been had..." Kabi said calmly, observing the scene at the island.

* * *

"C'mon kids!" Marina said, jogging with the old man on her back. "I have this old man yet I'm still running faster than you!"  
  
"It's not fair! You're a jounin!" Zukei yelled. Marina was even purposely jogging slower so that the kids could keep up.  
  
After they had finished the fight, the old man said they'd wasted too much time. Marina decided that running was their only option, and decided why not make it into a conditioning exercise? So now the genins didn't even get a break.  
  
"Just deal with it." Shizumi said, passing Zukei.  
  
"Don't get behind too far!" Rei smiled impishly at Zukei.  
  
The red-haired boy sucked it up and began to run faster. Marina had trained them like this since they had first passed as genins. Zukei, unfortunately, was always the one left behind.  
  
"The old man said we need to go faster!" Marina lied, yelling back at the kids. She sped up, and so did her three genins. They were getting better.  
  
"Oh come on!" Zukei yelled, running out of breath. _"Maybe I should have trained while enrolled in the academy instead of being lazy..."_ He thought.  
  
He was relieved when he saw the signs pointing up the path. They read: "Beautiful Lake Mizuumi, five hundred meters ahead." He smiled, knowing it was almost over.  
  
They had finally reached it. "Beautiful Lake Mizuumi". Unfortunately, it wasn't living up to its name. Today, it was foggy, and nothing but the bank could be seen. Not even much of that was visible either.  
  
"You three can rest!" Marina said, not the least bit out of breath. "The old man said he needs to get to the fishing island."  
  
Marina hopped in a paddleboat, the old man doing so too. In a flash, she was out of eyesight, paddling away.  
  
"Well, I'm going to leave before Marina comes back and makes us run all the way back to Konoha." Riku said, putting her hands behind her head and walking away.  
  
"Good idea." Zukei nodded, following after her.  
  
"You guys are just going to get in trouble and have to do more running..." Shizumi scolded. But they were already gone. _"Why am I the only one with sense?"_ Shizumi asked herself, resolving to go after them and get them.

* * *

"Let me guess, you guys followed me because of my good looks, right?"  
  
The three jounin men shook their heads muttering stuff along the lines of "Yeah, right," and "Keep dreaming." Marina glared at them, then noticed that they had old men with them too.   
  
"What is this, the twilight zone?" She asked aloud. 

"It certainly seems that way doesn't it?" Kabi asked, still quite calm despite the situation.   
  
The three old men disappeared, leaving only Ra. He walked to the center of the island, and exploded into smoke. Out of the smoke appeared a tall man with a scar under his left eye. He had black hair that was tied back into a ponytail, and a smirk on his face. He was wearing robes similar to ones that ANBU members would wear. On his head was a forehead protector with the Sound insignia on it.  
  
"Sound!?" Ken pulled a kunai from his waist.  
  
"Hold on!" Fever held his hand up to stop Ken's assault. "Let's see what he has to say."

* * *

The 8th threw his pipe onto the table, it spilling tobacco all over his papers. He didn't care about that at the moment, he sensed something was wrong. He had sent four of his best jounins on missions with their students, and some of his ANBU members were sent to stop an uprising in a small village to the South. He knew it was a trap now, and cursed himself for not noticing sooner. He reached the door to his office and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.  
  
"Curse my foolishness!" The 8th exclaimed, gas pouring into the room. His eyes closed slowly, and the last thing he heard were a couple of voices.  
  
"Get the Nine-Tails."  
  
A/N: Cliffhanger! BWAHAHAHAHA! 


End file.
